Specifications

Physical

Dimensions

(in Inches) 8.75H x 5.5L x 1T

Author Info

Noam Chomsky

Noam Chomsky has had an important impact on the field of linguistics as well as in political science, where he has been a tireless critic of Western imperialism. Through a prodigious output of published material in pamphlets, lectures, interviews, and prose, he has been especially critical of the United States and its relation to Third World countries. Chomsky graduated from Harvard with a Ph.D. in 1955, and he has long been affiliated with MIT. His linguistic theories concern the nature of language and how it is learned, a faculty he considers innate, or "hard-wired"; in describing his theories, he has invented such terms as "universal grammar," "deep structure," and "transformational grammar." Chomsky's upbringing in the depression has been cited by many critics as the source of his social conscience; so has his youth on the the West Side of New York City, where, as the son of a Hebrew scholar, he encountered a literate and engaged Jewish immigrant community.The intellectual milieu of MIT and Boston, and his status as an adult who was somewhat of a hero to the '60s counterculture are also worth noting. Chomsky has been a strong critic of America's war in Vietnam as well as the role of multinational corporations in the Third World and the Middle East.